URMC / Center for RNA Biology / People / Trainees Trainees ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZPost-Doctoral Fellows and StudentsElizabeth Abshire Ph.D.Postdoctoral FellowMaquat LabEmail ElizabethAbshireMohammed AliGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail MohammedAliResearch Interest: Investigating differential intron sensitivity to PUF60, a gene that is deleted or amplified in developmental syndromes and cancersUday Baliga Ph.D.Postdoctoral AssociateYao LabEmail UdayBaligaResearch Interest: Development of gene delivery techniques to the lung using electroporation and modified nucleic acidsAlissa BeamGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail AlissaBeamResearch Interest: The Effect of Integrator Subunit 11 Mutations on Integrator Function and Neuronal DevelopmentEmily BerryGraduate StudentMello LabEmail EmilyBerryResearch Interest: Understanding the role of lncRNA Neat1 in maintaining cell identity.Md. Belal ChowdhuryGraduate StudentMaquat LabEmail Md. BelalChowdhuryLily Cisco M.S.Graduate StudentLueck LabEmail LilyCiscoResearch Interest: Pathomechanism of skeletal muscle weakness and degeneration in Myotonic DystrophyHannah ClaryGraduate StudentKielkopf LabEmail HannahClaryResearch Interest: Investigating the roles of the SF3B1 ULMs in recruiting protein phosphatases for pre-mRNA splicingAnanya Das PhDPostdoctoral AssociateErmolenko LabEmail AnanyaDasDebojyoti Das PhDPostdoctoral AssociateYao LabEmail DebojyotiDasResearch Interest: Translational control and metabolismDakarai EsgdailleGraduate StudentMello LabEmail DakaraiEsgdailleResearch Interest: Understanding the mechanism of pre-mRNA splicing regulation by the long non-coding RNA Neat1.Rhodalyn Essien M.S.Graduate StudentGlading LabEmail RhodalynEssienResearch Interest: Suppression of cerebral cavernous malformation nonsense mutation using anti-codon edited tRNAs Aimee FujiGraduate StudentDunman LabEmail AimeeFujiJeffrey GabellGraduate StudentLueck LabEmail JeffreyGabellResearch Interest: Development of tools and tRNA-based therapeutics for rescue of PTC-derived disease and improved target protein expressionMartin GarciaGraduate StudentAnderson LabEmail MartinGarciaResearch Interest: Characterizaon of KCNE6 and KCNE7: Novel Regulators of Cardiac Repolarizaon Channels KCNQ1 and hERGColeman GoennerGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail ColemanGoennerResearch Interest: Evidence for a non-canonical mode of translation regulation by preQ1 riboswitchesVijay Gondil PhDPostdoctoral AssociateDunman LabEmail VijayGondilResearch Interest: mRNA degradosomes, tRNA processing and penicillin binding proteins-4 as targets to develop novel classes of antibacterial drugs.Ryan HardyGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail RyanHardyLeon HarveyGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail LeonHarveyResearch Interest: Investigating the Role of RNA Helicases in Splicing Changes caused by Cancer Associated SF3B1 MutationsMaryClaire HaseleyGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail MaryClaireHaseleyResearch Interest: Identification and Characterization of Transcription Factors Associating with the Integrator ComplexXueyang He MSGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail XueyangHeResearch Interest: Modeling the effects of cancer-associated spliceosome mutations and identifying driving intronic features using deep-learning neural networksChristina Heil Ph.D.Postdoctoral FellowLueck LabEmail ChristinaHeilOlivia HiltkeGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail OliviaHiltkeResearch Interest: Developing novel thermodynamic parameters for RNA folding stability in simulated cellular environments to improve the accuracy of RNA secondary structure predictions.Molly Hulver MSGraduate StudentBoutz LabEmail MollyHulverResearch Interest: Modeling CDK12 and CDK13 Loss-of-Function to Investigate Their Roles in Alternative Polyadenylation and Neoantigen ExpressionAleksandr Ivanov PhDPostdoctoral AssociateErmolenko LabEmail AleksandrIvanovMadeline JensenGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail MadelineJensenResearch Interest: Cytoplasmic Assembly of Nuclear RNA EndonucleasesSeth JonesGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail SethJonesResearch Interest: Structural Studies of Cas13b Accessory Protein Csx27Nino KalandadzeGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail NinoKalandadzeDaniil KiliushikGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail DaniilKiliushikResearch Interest: Structure and Function Analysis of a Type III PreQ1 Riboswitch from Escherichia coliChristopher KirchhoffGraduate StudentKielkopf LabEmail ChristopherKirchhoffResearch Interest: Structural Investigation of Early Splicing Factor ComplexesMert KokaGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail MertKokaResearch Interest: Pulling the plug on bacteriophage infection: investigating the molecular mechanism of activation of CRISPR-Csx28Matthew LawGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail MatthewLawResearch Interest: Structure and Function Analysis of a Spermidine-Sensing Bacterial RiboswitchSean LindleyGraduate StudentAnderson LabEmail SeanLindleyAbby ManningGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail AbbyManningResearch Interest: Regulation of transcription machinery by phosphorylationLenny MaoGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail LennyMaoNancy Mehra PhDPostdoctoral AssociateDunman LabEmail NancyMehraResearch Interest: Targeting A. baumannii efflux pumps via small molecule inhibitors to improve existing antibiotic treatments' effectiveness and combat adaptive efflux-mediated drug resistance.Megan MiaroGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail MeganMiaroResearch Interest: Predicting conserved non-canonical RNA interactions using sequence comparisonJulia Nicosia MSGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail JuliaNicosiaResearch Interest: The role of the Type VI CRISPR-Cas accessory protein Csx27 in CRISPR-Cas13 mediated anti-viral immunityThomas OssevoortGraduate StudentErmolenko LabEmail ThomasOssevoortResearch Interest: Defining the roles of 5’UTR length and secondary structure in eukaryotic translation initiationYi Pan MSGraduate StudentYu LabEmail YiPanResearch Interest: Targeted pseudouridylation identifies a novel Ψ-Ψ codon-anticodon pairing in nonsense suppression and translational recodingBrandon ParkGraduate StudentPatrick Murphy LabEmail BrandonParkResearch Interest: Nucleic Acid Biology, Epigenetics, and Development. My project is focused on the role of H2A.Z in epigenetic inheritance.Alexander ParksGraduate StudentWagner LabEmail AlexanderParksJessica PerciaccanteGraduate StudentAnderson LabEmail JessicaPerciaccanteResearch Interest: The function of lncRNAs in heart development; optimizing techniques to identify direct protein interactions with lncRNAs. Joseph Porter Ph.D.Postdoctoral FellowLueck LabEmail JosephPorterKeegan ProctorGraduate StudentErmolenko LabEmail KeeganProctorResearch Interest: Developing a platform for experimental identification of genetic barriers to horizontal gene transfer in Staphylococcus aureusNabil RahmanGraduate StudentSteiner LabEmail NabilRahmanResearch Interest: Elucidating the Epigenetic Mechanisms that Regulate stress and steady-state Erythropoiesis, with the overarching goal of ameliorating symptoms in hemoglobinopathies.Jack SchwartzGraduate StudentYao LabEmail JackSchwartzJames SeuchGraduate StudentMathews LabEmail JamesSeuchResearch Interest: Characterizing the RNA backbone can highlight important features common across structuresJames ShaulGraduate StudentO'Connell LabEmail JamesShaulResearch Interest: Type VI CRISPR and associated bacterial anti-phage defense systemsMatthew Sipple Ph.D.Graduate StudentLueck LabEmail MatthewSippleResearch Interest: Isolating the Role of Myotonia in Myotonic Dystrophy PathogenesisEmily SorensenUndergraduate StudentLueck LabEmail EmilySorensenYoshita Srivastava PhDGraduate StudentWedekind LabEmail YoshitaSrivastavaResearch Interest: Structure and Function Analysis of Bacterial Riboswitches that Control TranslationLindsey WainwrightGraduate StudentYao LabEmail LindseyWainwrightResearch Interest: In Vitro Selection Identifies Cardiac Cell Targeting RNA Motifs/p>Rui ZhangGraduate StudentYu LabEmail RuiZhang